The Kings of Judah

After the death of Solomon the kingdom divided, and the southern kingdom of Judah was ruled by an unbroken line of the house of David — the dynasty to which God had promised an enduring throne (2 Samuel 7:16). Over some 345 years about twenty monarchs reigned in Jerusalem, a few of them faithful reformers and many of them unfaithful, until Babylon destroyed the city and temple in 586 BC and carried Judah into exile (2 Kings 25:1–21). Their story is told in 1–2 Kings and 1–2 Chronicles.

The kings of Judah

In order of reign (Athaliah being a usurping queen):

Rehoboam — whose harsh answer split the kingdom

Abijah — also called Abijam, who warred with Jeroboam

Asa — a reformer who removed idols

Jehoshaphat — a godly king who allied unwisely with Ahab

Jehoram — who married Ahab’s daughter and did evil

Ahaziah — who walked in the ways of Ahab’s house

Athaliah — Ahab’s daughter, who seized the throne and slew the royal heirs

Joash — crowned as a boy and faithful while Jehoiada lived

Amaziah — who began well but turned to idols

Uzziah — a strong king struck with leprosy for presumption

Jotham — who did right and built up the land

Ahaz — who practiced idolatry and even child sacrifice

Hezekiah — a great reformer delivered from Assyria

Manasseh — longest-reigning, deeply wicked, yet repented at the end

Amon — who returned to his father’s idols

Josiah — the last great reformer, who found the Book of the Law

Jehoahaz — deposed by Egypt after three months

Jehoiakim — who burned Jeremiah’s scroll and rebelled

Jehoiachin — exiled to Babylon after a three-month reign

Zedekiah — the last king, blinded and carried to Babylon